Majesty (American Royals, #2)(22)

But no one asked what she wanted anymore. As if the moment she’d become the queen, she’d stopped having any sort of desires at all.

Beatrice realized with a sick sense of guilt that she’d done the same thing to Teddy. In all her anguish over what the wedding was costing her, she hadn’t even considered what he was giving up.

He’d cared about Samantha, and Sam had feelings for him, and still Beatrice had asked him to go through with this. She longed, suddenly, to broach the topic, but she felt like she’d forfeited the right to discuss Samantha with Teddy.

“I just—I doubt this is what you thought your wedding would be like,” she said hesitantly.

Teddy shrugged. “I never spent any time thinking about my wedding until this year,” he told her. “Did you?”

“Actually…when I was little, I thought I was going to get married at Disney World.”

She felt Teddy struggling to stifle a laugh. Color rose to her cheeks as she rushed to explain.

“When I was five, I begged my parents to take me to Disney World. The girls at school had all been talking about it….” And she had wanted, desperately, to fit in with them, to actually follow the conversation at the lower school lunch table for once.

“We had to go after the park closed,” she went on. “We couldn’t be there with the other guests, for security reasons. And—”

“Wait, you got to ride Space Mountain with no lines?” Teddy cut in.

“Please, five is too young for Space Mountain. Though I did ride the spinning teacups so many times that it gave my Revere Guard motion sickness,” Beatrice recalled, and Teddy chuckled. “When I saw the castle that night, all those princess characters were there. And I don’t know, I guess I knew I was a princess, and I figured that was where princesses got married.”

Beatrice didn’t admit that she hadn’t recognized the women in colorful ball gowns as fictional characters. She hadn’t seen any of their movies—so she’d assumed they were real princesses, as she was.

“A Disney World wedding,” Teddy said slowly. “Are you sure it’s not too late to change locations? The look on Robert’s face alone would be worth it.”

Beatrice chuckled at that—but as the laugh traveled out of her chest, it transformed into a single, ragged sob. Then somehow she was laughing and weeping at once, crumpling forward and hiding her face in her hands.

She didn’t expect Teddy to reach for her.

He wiped away the tears on first one cheek, then the other, his thumb brushing ever so lightly against the damp fan of her lashes. Beatrice’s breath caught as his hand cupped around her face, his palm cradling the back of her neck. She was startled by how much she wanted to close her eyes and lean in to him.

Some part of her felt guilty for that desire, as if it was a betrayal of everything she’d felt for Connor.

Except that she and Connor were over, and it had been weeks—months, really—since anyone had touched her like this. Aside from those few frantic kisses the afternoon he left, Connor had hardly even dared to hug her since her dad died. Beatrice hadn’t realized how desperately she had craved this: the simple human comfort of feeling another person’s skin on hers.

“Beatrice…” Teddy pulled his hand away, as surprised by his gesture as she was. “If we really are doing this, I want to ask you something.”

“All right.” She leaned back, and her gown rustled with the movement, a dry sound like wind raking through autumn leaves.

“Will you be honest with me?”

Whatever Beatrice had expected, it wasn’t this.

“Look—I know there will be things you don’t want to share,” he hurried to add. “Some things you can’t share, because of who you are. When that happens, I’d rather you just admit that you can’t tell me something, instead of feeling like you need to lie. And I swear that I will do the same.”

The room had become very small and still. Beatrice’s heart pounded against the rigid corset of the gown.

She wondered what secrets Teddy was trying to keep from her. Was he worried she would ask him about his history with Samantha? Or was he asking this for her sake, because he somehow knew about her and Connor?

Whatever his reasons, Beatrice saw the wisdom in Teddy’s request. He was right.

There might not be love between them—but there could be trust, if they built it. And trust might allow for privacy, even secrets, but never for lies.

“I agree. Let’s always tell each other the truth.”

Teddy nodded and stood, holding out a hand to help her to her feet. His grip was warm, and steady, and firm.

For some reason, Beatrice thought back to the day she’d proposed. She remembered how utterly strange Teddy’s hand had felt in hers.

It didn’t seem quite so wrong, this time.





Daphne was very quiet as she browsed the rack of silk tops, her ears straining to catch the conversation of the women behind her. She didn’t dare alert them by turning around, so she couldn’t see their faces, but she sensed from the quiet intensity of their voices that they were discussing something scandalous.

She hadn’t come to Halo, her favorite boutique, with the express intent of eavesdropping—but Daphne had long ago learned to keep her ears and eyes open.